Johnny Damon isn’t exactly playing hard to get with Yankees

Johnny Damon would love to return to the New York Yankees.

Apparently the feeling isn’t mutual.

“Going to focus on what we have for now,” Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said in an email to Newsday on Monday afternoon.

That’s coming from the general manager of a team that actually has a need in the outfield, with the injured Curtis Granderson expected to be out several weeks. And a team that won a World Series in 2009 with Damon’s assistance.

“I would have tons of interest to go to New York,” Damon said on ESPN Radio earlier on Monday. “But I just don’t think they would be interested. I’m not exactly sure what happened over the years or something.”

Since the Yankees let him walk after winning the World Series, the 39-year-old’s production has dropped. Last season with the Cleveland Indians, Damon’s batting average was a career-low .222 in 224 plate appearances.

He isn’t on any team’s roster at the moment, but Damon insists he’s not retired. Especially if the Yankees come calling.

“They have had plenty of opportunities and I kept raising my hand, wanting to go back and, you know, hopefully it would have been a perfect fit. It always had been,” he said. “Have me for six weeks and then send me off on my merry way. That’s fine.”

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